Bird officially denied visa

Former NRL player Greg Bird has officially been locked out of the UK, his attempt to secure a work visa to link with the Bradford Bulls knocked back today.

Hot on the heels of knock backs for other NRL stars Michael Crocker and Todd Carney. Both Crocker and Carney had previous convictions in Australian courts.

Bird has remained on the sidelines since his suspension in August last year after allegedly assaulting partner Katie Milligan. The next court date for Bird is April 27 where he will defend allegations of reckless wounding, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two charges of lying to police.

The British High Commission also has forced a change of plans for both Canberra player Todd Carney who was to link with Huddersfield and former Storm forward Mick Crocker who was to join Hull.

But not only former NRL players with troubled pasts are finding it hard to have their visa applications approved.
An overhaul of the complete visa regulation system in the UK has also made things much more difficult for all NRL players arriving from Australia.